Our Commitment: Local Agriculture and Land Resources

The Oberlin Project is working with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy and local landowners to identify a 20,000-acre patchwork of land, within a 6-county area, that might be permanently protected to support food, energy, and carbon sequestration projects in northeastern Ohio.  Land is a vital part of the innovative vision for post-fossil fuel communities.

Our Goals:

The Western Reserve Land Conservancy will complete a land resource identification plan designed to be a blueprint for land protection within the project area.  The data will include:

• Soil information to determine where there are unique soils for food and fiber production;
• Project infrastructure information, such as the location of implement dealers, grain centers, lumber mills, railroads and other critical assets for working lands;
• Forest cover information to identify areas for fiber production and conservation;
• Energy information, such as land suitable for biofuels, wind and solar production;
• Biodiversity information, including rare and listed species, wetlands and streams; and
• Understanding of existing land use and control so we know what is already preserved and/or owned by institutional partners.

Data will be collected using GIS and information will be used to develop maps showing, among other things, significant farm, fiber, biodiversity, recreation, and energy assets. These assets will form the basis of a high-resolution strategy to work with landowners to permanently preserve priority properties.

We are guided by:

The Land Conservancy will use its expertise in GIS and planning to create a high-resolution land resource identification plan. This document will evaluate and identify approximately 20,000 acres that could be preserved for a variety of activities including farming, energy production, and conservation. Farms, forests, water and energy assets will be among the resources examined.